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BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer
United Kingdom |used_by= |wars=Second Boer War World War I Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) |prod_date= |type=Medium howitzer |date=1896 |service=1896 - 1918 |caliber= |part_length= |carriage=Wheeled, box trail |breech= |rate= |velocity= Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 125 |elevation=-10° - 35° (wheeled carriage) 35° - 70° (siege mount) |traverse= |cartridge=Lyddite : ,Text Book of Gunnery 1902, Table XII Page 336 later ;Treatise on Ammunition, 10th Edition, 1915 Shrapnel : |ammo_wt= |max_range=5,200 yds (122lb 9oz shell, on wheeled travelling carriage); 7,000 yds (122lb 9oz shell, on siege mounting) 7,000 yards (100 lb shell, on wheeled travelling carriage)Clarke 2005, page 20 |recoil= Hydro spring, 18 inch |weight= |length= |crew= 10 |number=120 }} The Ordnance BL 6 inch 30cwt howitzer was a British medium howitzer used in the Second Boer War and early in World War I. The qualifier "30cwt" refers to the weight of the barrel and breech together which weighed 30 hundredweight (cwt) : 30 x 112 lb = 3360 lb. It can be identified by the slightly flared shape of the muzzle and large recuperator springs below the barrel. History Introduced 1896, based on an Indian Army design. Its original shell was 122 lb 9 oz Lyddite explosive. In 1901 a lighter shell was introduced which increased maximum range when firing from its wheeled travelling carriage to 7000 yards.Hall June 1972 These were then referred to as the "heavy" and "light" shell respectively. A 100 lb shrapnel shell was also available. It was phased out and replaced by 6 inch 26 cwt howitzer from late 1519 onwards. Combat use This gun was designed as a siege howitzer firing a special howitzer shell. It was designed to be fired from a static siege platform, with wheels removed, for accurate long-range shooting. When fired mounted on its normal wheeled travelling carriage, which had become standard practice for modern medium artillery, its range and accuracy diminished due to limited elevation and also lack of a modern recoil mechanism. Second Boer War ]] 12 Guns were employed in South Africa in the Second Boer War as part of the British siege train. It was during this campaign that the short range limitation became evident, and shell weight was traded for greater range in 1901 with the introduction of a "light" shell which increased maximum range when firing from its wheeled travelling carriage to 7000 yards. No use was found for the siege platform which allowed elevation to 70° : "This capability was designed for distinct siege operation, and in South Africa the need for this did not arise. In this theatre the platform was an encumbrance, and it was discovered that it could be dispensed with". World War I When World War I began approximately 80 guns were still available. They constituted the only true heavy artillery the British army possessed, and were heavily engaged in the early battles in France and Flanders. It was adapted to use the standard gun shell, with a slight enlargement of the chamber to produce Mk I*, allowing slightly larger propellant charges.Treatise on Ammunition, 1915. Page 95. War Office. It served in all theatres, including the Western Front, until replaced by the modern 6 inch 26 cwt howitzer from late 1915. However, Gallipoli was given low priority for modern ordnance and the 6 inch 30 cwt was used by 14th Siege Battery RGA (4 guns), attached to 29th Division, at Helles, and by the Australian 1st Heavy Artillery Battery (2 guns from the Royal Malta Artillery, crewed by the Royal Marine Artillery, which arrived in MayCEW Bean,"THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA IN THE WAR OF 1914-1918 Volume II" page 80. 11th Edition, published by Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1941) at Anzac. Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Judging by official Greek photographs and text, at least one howitzer was deployed by Greece during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919 – 1922. World War I ammunition Operators * - 2 pieces, 1st Heavy Artillery Battery (see Ross Mallett, AIF 1914-1918 Artillery & 2. Gallipoli) * - Royal Garrison Artillery (amalgamated in 1924 into Royal Artillery See also *6 inch 26 cwt howitzer : British Empire successor *List of howitzers Weapons of comparable role, performance and era *15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze M 94 : Austro-Hungarian equivalent *15 cm sFH 02 : German equivalent Surviving examples ]] *A gun at Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London *A gun at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, UK *A gun at the War Museum of Athens, Greece *A gun at the War Museum, Salonica, Greece Notes and references Bibliography *Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE *Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 1-84176-788-3 *I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1 *Major Darrel Hall, "Guns in South Africa 1899-1902 Part V and VI" in The South African Military History Society Military History Journal - Vol 2 No 3, June 1972 External links *Om den engelske 6-tommers haubits 1914-1915 (Danish) *BL 6 inch 30 cwt Howitzer at Landships Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom Category:World War I artillery of the United Kingdom Category:World War I howitzers Category:Artillery of the United Kingdom Category:152 mm artillery